Methods and systems for protecting clothing from dyes

ABSTRACT

A method and system is provided for substantially protecting a piece of clothing from staining by dyes that may transfer and stain from another piece of clothing. The method and system include a multilayered sheet of protective guard that has substantially dye proof outer layer that adheres to a piece of clothing such as an inside cuff. This substantially protects the transfer of dyes, such as indigo dyes, between the clothing and a second piece of clothing.

TECHNICAL FIELD

I provide methods and systems for protecting clothing from being stained by dyes.

BACKGROUND

A person wearing multiple articles of clothing and accessories may find some of their articles stained by dyes that have rubbed off from a separate article of clothing or accessory. This unwanted occurrence happens because many articles of clothing include dyes for coloring, such as indigo dyes, that may stain other items of clothing upon contact. This can happen, for example, when a person wears shoes that abut against the bottom and inside cuffs of that person's pants. In this case, dyes from the pants may rub off on the shoes, permanently damaging them. Conversely, dyes from the shoes may rub off on the pants. While several articles are on the market to deal with such an occurrence, few are able to substantially prevent transfer of all types of dyes or fade the clothing being protected. Some products, such as suede cleaners, are only useable to remove existing stains. As one would expect, these cleaners do not prevent the stain from occurring in the first place and may fade or otherwise discolor the material. Furthermore, while some protective products can be added prior to staining, some of these, such as waterproofing sprays, do not effectively protect against dyes if at all. Other items may provide some level of protection but additionally fade the color of the material they are trying to protect. Therefore, there remains a need for clothing protectors that can prevent dye staining on clothing without fading the clothing.

SUMMARY

I provide methods and systems using a physical protective guard that protects a portion of a piece of clothing from becoming stained by dyes that transfer from other clothing articles or accessories.

I also provide methods of protecting clothing from staining by transfer of dyes that include separating a sheet of protective guard from a roll of protective guard along a perforation, wherein the sheet of protective guard has an outer substantially dye proof layer, an inner removable backing layer and an adhesive layer between the outer and inner layer. The method of use further includes removing the backing layer from the sheet of a protective guard thereby substantially uncovering the adhesive layer, and thereafter attaching the touch based adhesive layer to the portion of the first clothing

I further provide systems for preventing dye transfer that includes one or a multiplicity of sheets of protective guard and a multiplicity of perforations on the sheets of protective guard, wherein a length of the one or a multiplicity of sheets of protective guard is defined by the distance between perforations. Each sheet of the one or a multiplicity of sheets of protective guard has an outer substantially dye proof layer, an inner removable backing layer, and a touch based adhesive layer between the outer and inner layers. The protective guard is applied to a portion of a first clothing to substantially protect staining by transfer of dyes between the first clothing and a second clothing that would otherwise touch the first clothing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Without restricting the full scope of my disclosure, various preferred forms and its related articles are illustrated in the following drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a top view of a sheet of protective guard.

FIG. 2 shows an exploded perspective view of a roll of protective guard.

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of sheet of protective guard applied to a first clothing.

FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of a second clothing contacting the protective guard.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It will be appreciated that the following description is intended to refer to specific examples of structure selected for illustration in the drawings and is not intended to define or limit the disclosure, other than in the appended claims.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show a protective guard 10 that is used in the provided method and system for substantially preventing dyes from transferring onto a portion of clothing. As shown in FIG. 2, protective guard 10 includes at least three layers, a non-stick, removable backing layer 12, an adhesive layer 14 and a substantially dye-proof layer 16.

Non-stick backing layer 12 provides a layer that, when removed, reveals adhesive layer 14 beneath. Backing layer 12 can be made of wax paper, plastic film or any suitable material known in the art and can be colored, printed and/or can be of different surface textures or embossed. Adhesive layer 14 may be in contact with backing layer 12 such that the backing layer can be peeled off from the adhesive layer. Adhesive layer 14 can be any adhesive known in the art that is suitable for room temperature attachment onto clothing. Adhesive layer 14 may include pressure sensitive adhesives that are normally tacky at room temperature and can be adhered to a surface by application of light finger pressure, such as rubber based adhesives.

Substantially dye-proof layer 16 includes a waterproof substance that substantially prevents dyes passing through protective guard 12. Such material is preferably a polyethylene film because of its strength, resilience and waterproof nature, thus preventing water based dyes from seeping through the polyethylene. Alternate or additional materials such as a glass cloth or a polyester may be used to give protective guard 10 more flexibility. Substantially dye-proof layer 16 can be colored, printed and/or can be of different surface textures or embossed.

The substantially dye-proof layer 16 may be considered the outer layer of protective guard 10, with the backing layer 12 the inner layer, and the adhesive layer 14 in between substantially dye-proof layer 16 and backing layer 12. When backing layer 12 is removed, the adhesive layer 14 becomes the de-facto inner layer that contacts and attaches the protective substantially dye-proof layer 16 to a portion of clothing.

As shown in FIG. 2, protective guard 10 can be formed into a roll 20. The protective guard 10 is formed into a roll 20 having a plurality of wraps by rolling the protective guard onto itself, with substantially dye-proof layer 16 facing outwardly or inwardly. Support material 22, such as a core, a liner, or any other material, may optionally be used to lend support and provide rigidity and strength to the roll of protective guard.

Protective guard 10 may further include a strengthening layer 32 between the substantially dye-proof layer 16 and adhesive layer 14, as shown in FIG. 2. The strengthening layer is preferably a mesh material that provides additional strength to protective guard 10. The strengthening layer 32 may be a cloth based mesh layer or fiber based mesh layer. Protective guard 10 may also include additional layers, such as primers to increase the adhesion of adhesive layer 14 to backing layer 12.

Roll 20 preferably has a multiplicity of perforations 24 that divide protective guard 10 into one or a multiplicity of sheets 26 to aid separation of protective guard 10 from roll 20. Perforations 24 may run substantially parallel to each other. Perforations of any pattern can be used, however, and roll 20 can reasonably have any number of sheets 26 desired.

Perforations can be added to the protective guard by any means known in the art, such as by pins and needles. Rotary pinned perforation rollers are precision tools used to make perforations, wherein the pins and needles can be used cold or heated. Hot needle perforation melts a material being perforated and creates a reinforcing ring around the perforation that assists in keeping the integrity of the material. Alternatively, laser perforation can place many precise holes in a web and look similar in many respects to hot needle perforations.

As shown in FIG. 1, once perforations 24 are added to at least a portion of roll 20, sheet 26 is formed having longitudinal sides 28 and side edges 30. In instances where perforations 24 are substantially parallel, a length of longitudinal side 28 is substantially defined by the distance between perforations. Perforations 24 can be any distance from each other as needed. Perforations may be between about 5-10 inches apart from each other, and correspondingly the length of sheet 26 may be between about 5-10 inches. This size is configured to coincide with and protect the circumference of a pant cuff, although smaller sizes can be created for other areas such as for a shirt cuff. The distance can go outside this range if needed, and spacings between each perforation do not have to be even from sheet to sheet. The height of side edges 30, which can vary as needed, is preferably between about 3-6 inches, which is also configured to protect a portion of clothing such as a pant cuff that may be contacted by a dye containing other clothing or accessory. Resultantly, the sheet of protective guard has a height and length configured to protect a portion of a first clothing from dye transfer with a second piece of clothing that would otherwise directly contact the first piece of clothing.

Substantially dye-proof layer 16, adhesive layer 14 and backing layer 12 may have substantially the same length and width dimensions. In alternate aspects, as shown in FIG. 1, portions of backing layer 12 can extend past a first side of the adhesive layer 14 and substantially dye proof layer 16 to form backing layer extension 18. The backing layer may aid peeling when a user manipulates extension 18 away from the adhesive layer 14, typically by pulling. Extension 18 can be located on a roll-by-roll basis or a sheet-by-sheet basis.

The protective guard as described provides substantial prevention of clothing dyes from passing there-through and transferring onto a protected portion of clothing. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, protective guard 10 is applied to a portion of a first clothing 34. To do so, a sheet 26 of protective guard 10 is separated from roll 20 along a perforation 24. Backing layer 12 is then peeled off from adhesive layer 14, revealing an adhesive. Removal of the backing layer 12 can occur through manipulation of extension 18. While the dye protector can be applied to any location on first clothing 34, it is preferably attached to a location that would contact a second clothing 36. As shown in FIG. 3, first clothing 34 is a pair of pants and sheet 26 is applied to an inside cuff of the pants by pressing adhesive layer 14 against the inside of the cuff such that substantially protective dye proof layer 16 is facing away from first clothing 34. Sheet 26 is preferably configured to protect a portion of a first clothing from dyes by covering an inside portion of the cuff that would contact a second clothing or accessory. Additional sheets 26 can be added if desired to increase the protection of protective guard 10.

As shown in the structure represented in FIG. 4, the cuff protector on clothing 34 prevents direct contact with second clothing 36, in this case a pair of shoes. Any dyes in clothing 34, such as highly staining indigo dyes, would instead contact protective guard 10 and would therefore not substantially transfer onto second clothing 36. Conversely, any dyes in second clothing 36 would instead contact protective guard 10 and would therefore not substantially transfer onto clothing 34. Furthermore, if worn on the interior such as in FIG. 4, the cuff protector is not substantially visible from an outward appearance. While the protective guard can be applied to any portion of a first clothing 34, second clothing 36, or other clothing for that matter, it is preferably located on an inside portion to reduce outward visibility.

Protective guard 10 can be removed from clothing 34 by peeling it off as one peeled off the adhesive layer from the backing-layer. The removed pressure based adhesive will not cause substantial fading or damage to most types of clothing material.

I create a method and system for protecting a portion of a clothing item from dyes that may rub off from the same or other clothing or accessories. Various changes and modifications can be made in the invention without departing from its scope or spirit. For example, while FIGS. 3 and 4 show a pant cuff and a shoe, other aspects can include a shirt cuff with a glove or other clothing or accessory, or on any interior or non-interior portion of a clothing to protect from a portion of any other clothing or accessory.

Although the apparatus and methods have been described in connection with specific forms thereof, it will be appreciated that a wide variety of equivalents may be substituted for the specified elements described herein without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure as described in the appended claims. 

1. A method of protecting clothing from staining by dyes, comprising, providing a sheet of protective guard, the sheet of protective guard having: an outer substantially dye proof layer, an inner removable backing layer, and an adhesive layer between the outer and inner layer, removing the backing layer from the sheet of a protective guard thereby substantially uncovering the touch based adhesive layer, and attaching the touch based adhesive layer to a portion of a first clothing, wherein the sheet of substantially protects transfer of dyes between the portion of the first clothing and a second clothing.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the portion of the first clothing is an interior portion of a cuff.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the second clothing is selected from the list consisting of: gloves and shoes.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the backing layer is removed by manipulating an extension of the backing layer that extends past a first side of the substantially dye proof layer.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the sheet of protective guard further includes a strengthening layer in between the substantially dye proof layer and the adhesive layer.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the strengthening layer is a cloth mesh layer.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the sheet of protective guard is removed from a roll of protective guard, the roll of protective guard having perforations wherein tearing along the perforations creates the sheet of protective guard from the roll of protective guard.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the length of the sheet is between 5-10 inches and the height of the sheet is between 3-6 inches
 9. A system for prevention of dye staining on clothing, comprising: one or a multiplicity of sheets of protective guard, a multiplicity of perforations, wherein a length of the one or a multiplicity of sheets of protective guard is defined by the distance between perforations, wherein each sheet of the one or a multiplicity of sheets of protective guard has an outer substantially dye proof layer, an inner removable backing layer, and an adhesive layer between the outer and inner layer, a portion of a first clothing, and a portion of a second clothing, wherein at least one of the one or a multiplicity of sheets of protective guard is used to substantially protect staining by transfer of dyes between the portions of the first and second clothing.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein the portion of the first clothing is an interior portion of a cuff.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein the second clothing is selected from the list consisting of: gloves and shoes.
 12. The system of claim 9, wherein the backing layer is removed by manipulating an extension of the backing layer that extends past a first side of the substantially dye proof layer.
 13. There system of claim 9, wherein the sheet of protective guard further includes a strengthening layer in between the substantially dye proof layer and the adhesive layer.
 14. The system of claim 13, wherein the strengthening layer is a cloth mesh layer.
 15. The system of claim 9, wherein the sheet of protective guard is removed from a roll of protective guard, wherein tearing along the perforations creates the sheet of protective guard from the roll of protective guard.
 16. The system of claim 9, wherein the length of the sheet is between 5-10 inches and the height of the sheet is between 3-6 inches. 